Colour and Line Feelings

Overview

Students explore how colour, line and shape can communicate feelings. They respond to a short piece of music through movement, digital mark-making and an individual artwork, building on prior experiences with drawing and colour.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• explore how lines, shapes and colours can show feelings and ideas
• experiment with drawing tools and digital art tools
• create an artwork inspired by music
• talk about one choice they made in their artwork

Success criteria

• I can make different kinds of lines and shapes.
• I can choose colours that match a feeling or idea.
• I can use a digital tool safely to make marks.
• I can tell someone about one choice in my artwork.

Curriculum links

• Students experiment and play with visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials.
• Students use visual conventions, processes and materials to create artworks.
• Students develop ideas through visual brainstorming, arrangement and rearrangement.
• ICT General Capability: students use a simple digital drawing tool to create and save or share a visual response.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Welcome and visual hook. Open with the music-and-colour introduction slides and show two contrasting abstract images: one using energetic lines and bright colours, and one using soft lines and quiet colours. Play a short, instrumental music excerpt and ask, “What do you notice? How might this sound look?” Students move their fingers in the air to show the music using imaginary lines.

2. 5–10 min · Teacher modelling. Use the next slide to introduce child-friendly examples of straight, curved, zigzag, thick and thin lines, plus simple open and closed shapes. Model making one quick paper sketch and one digital drawing, thinking aloud: “This fast zigzag makes me think of excitement. I chose warm colours because they feel lively.” Students copy three line types in the air, then practise them on their worksheet.

3. 10–15 min · Sensory exploration. Play a second short section of music and invite students to make quiet marks on the large drawing space of the feelings drawing sheet. Encourage them to change pressure, direction and speed rather than trying to draw an object. Students make a collection of lines and shapes, then point to the mark that best matches how the music felt.

4. 15–28 min · Create the artwork. Display the activity steps on the music artwork instruction slide. Students choose either the classroom digital drawing tool on a tablet or paper and oil pastel/crayon. They create an abstract “music feeling picture” using at least three different lines, two shapes and colours that communicate their response. The teacher circulates, asks “What feeling are you showing?” and “Which mark helps show it?”, and supports students to make intentional choices. Students using tablets practise selecting a tool, changing colour or thickness, and using undo; they show the teacher before saving or closing.

5. 28–35 min · Add and refine. Pause the class for a brief visual check using the artist choices slide. Model adding one detail, changing a colour or repeating a shape to make the artwork clearer. Students look at their work and make one purposeful change. They may add a title by dictating it to an adult, using speech-to-text, or writing it independently.

6. 35–42 min · Share and respond. Arrange paper artworks for a seated gallery view and invite selected students to display digital work on the screen. Students turn to a partner and use the sentence frame, “I notice ___” or “Your picture makes me think of ___ because ___.” Partners respond respectfully without touching another student’s work. The teacher highlights different valid choices and reinforces that artworks can communicate feelings in different ways.

7. 42–45 min · Exit reflection and pack-up. Return to the reflection and pack-up slide. Students point to or circle one prompt on their worksheet: “My picture shows…”, “I used…”, or “I discovered…”. Invite two or three verbal responses, then students place paper work in the drying area or save digital work using the class routine and return equipment.

Resources

• the music-and-colour introduction slides
• the feelings drawing sheet
• Tablet or computer for each pair or small group
• Simple digital drawing application
• Projector or interactive whiteboard
• Short instrumental music excerpts
• A4 drawing paper
• Oil pastels, crayons or markers
• Headphones, if available
• Drying rack or class digital folder

Assessment

• Observe whether students experiment with different lines, shapes, colours and tools during the exploration and creation stages.
• Confer with students using prompts about their artistic choices; note whether they can connect a visual choice to a feeling or response.
• Use the final worksheet reflection and partner explanation as an exit check. Collect or photograph work to identify students requiring further experience with digital tool control, colour selection or visual language.

Differentiation

• Support students with a visual choice board showing line types, simple shapes and colour groups; model one step at a time and provide the sentence frames “I used ___” and “It shows ___”.
• Offer chunky crayons, pencil grips, larger paper, a tablet stylus or a partner-operated tablet. Allow students to communicate through pointing, gesture, drawing or voice recording rather than requiring written responses.
• Provide a quieter workspace or headphones for students sensitive to sound, and allow students to choose whether to respond to the first or second music excerpt.
• Extend confident students by layering marks, changing line thickness, repeating a shape to create rhythm, or combining paper and digital marks in one composition.
• Ensure students can participate without assumptions about colour, emotion or artistic ability. Accept varied interpretations, use students’ preferred names and pronouns, and provide culturally respectful opportunities for students to choose their own imagery and meanings.